Columbus, Ohio USA
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Italian Village Society Complete Streets Implementing Committee

Submitted by Andy Klein
November/December 2017 Issue (includes September meeting)

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MEETING MINUTES: September 28, 2017 at Seventh Son Brewing Co., 1101 N. Fourth Street.

Thurs., September 28, 2017, 5:30 pm
Present: Andy Klein (Chair), Rory Krupp, Betsy Pandora

Andy called the Streets Committee to order at 5:35 pm in the back room at the brewery.

Fifth Avenue Visioning Process Andy noted the recent announcement that Flower Child will relocate to the Squire warehouse at 249 E. Fifth Avenue as welcome news. Joe Valenti’s vintage superstore will join Stump, the houseplant retailer, as an anchor for that stretch of E. Fifth Avenue. E. Fifth Avenue (from High Street to Cleveland Avenue intersecting Weinland Park, Italian Village and Milo-Grogan), currently a spotty mix of uses, deserves the unified attention of those civic associations and the city to plan it’s future development as a vibrant commercial corridor. Andy and Rory compiled a list of stakeholders, and reviewed current and speculative plans for existing vacant properties. Rory noted that except for the northeast corner of Fifth and High, there’s no design review on the north side of E. Fifth while the IV Commission has design review on the south side but only up to the railroad tracks. Large landholders include Wagenbrenner, Lykens, New Victorians, Rogue, Fred Maloof, Carl Zipf and Chris Thompson. Current users include Lower Lights Health Center, HomePort, Mikey’s Late Night Slice Commissary, a hookah bar, hair salon, arcade, early childhood education center, and charter school. Godman Guild continues to explore a community center between its existing building and E. Fifth Avenue but any development of the adjoining vacant land at the northeast corner of N. Fourth Street and E. Fifth Avenue will have to await resolution of a toxic spill under N. Fifth Street next to the former 3M/DL Auld factory. New construction now underway includes Brad Howe’s Burwell Heights mixed use development at the northwest corner of Summit and E. Fifth, and Brian Higgins and Rob Vogt’s Arch City residential project at the southwest corner of N. Fourth Street and E. Fifth Avenue. Andy expressed confusion over the future of the Burger Boy/BBF, noting that owner Kevin Lykens indicated he had no plans for the building, but he has heard of plans for a mixed-use, multi-story replacement building with a zero lot line. Rory noted that the Weinland Park plan calls for 45'/3 story buildings there, but thought its development was further down the road given the many other Lykens projects in the pipeline. Andy noted that the building has historic value and could be a great anchor restored to its original purpose as a restaurant with ample parking. Andy questioned whether we should ask the city planning department for help. Rory noted they have a list of neighborhoods eligible for plans already in place. While the recent University District Plan addresses building heights and uses for the commercial properties on the north side of E. Fifth Avenue, he agreed that a comprehensive plan for both sides from High to Cleveland does not exist. Andy noted that the most recent city plan for IV was along N. Fourth Street fifteen years ago. Rory agreed to bring up the E. Fifth Avenue Visioning Process at the upcoming planning meeting of the UAC. Andy agreed to contact Robert Barksdale at Milo-Grogan to get his perspective on the subject, and to raise the issue at the IVS October meeting. Andy will also ask Mark Dravillas whether a city plan for E. Fifth Avenue is feasible. We agreed to report back at the November 30 meeting.

Short North Parking Study Update Betsy noted the great concern expressed by the retail business community for the loss of visitor parking during the ongoing construction. Of 900 on-street meters, 250, or one parking garage’s worth, are out of service as a result. Working with high-ranking city officials, she proposed that the Short North Alliance and Italian Village Society advocate for using excess capacity in the V and I permit zones for free on-street parking for daytime visitors. She noted that the city would change the signage and enforcement, but only with neighborhood support. Andy asked what other options were explored, given the parking study’s conclusion that much unused off-street parking existed. Betsy disputed that analysis, given the restrictions, ongoing development and distance of the off-street sites. Andy asked that any proposal be even-handed to spread the pain to both sides of High Street, and that Betsy identify the number of spaces at issue and their current usage rate. Pending IVS trustee approval, the November IVS meeting could host the discussion of whether to advocate for changing the I permit zone to allow daytime parking.

Infrastructure Improvement Hunter W Kelly, the Project Manager in Sewer Systems Engineering Systems from the City of Columbus, will attend the November 30 Streets Committee meeting to update us on planned area sewer and water cachements improvements.

Meeting Adjourned at 6:21 pm. The next meeting is 5:30pm, Thursday, November 30, 2017 at St. James Tavern. There will be no October Streets Committee meeting. The final committee meeting of the year is set for December 28 back at Seventh Son.

Andy Klein, Chair, Streets Committee (09/28/17)

REGULAR MONTHLY MEETINGS
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

The Streets Committee meets monthly on the last Thursday from 5:30-6:30pm at Seventh Son Brewery to discuss issues surrounding the public use of our streets and sidewalks. Our goal is to make our neighborhood streets “complete streets” in the sense they should unite our neighborhood, not divide it, and safely accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists, public transit riders and adjoining residents as well as vehicular traffic. We address such issues as parking, cross-walks, lighting, street trees, promoting storm water management and Blueprint Columbus, sidewalk amenities, signal timing, one-way vehicular traffic and development as it affects our neighborhood’s streets and sidewalks and their safe use.

These minutes, as well as those of the IVS general meetings, are available online in PDF format at www.italianvillage.org

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